Elementary My Dear Diana!
by Kowalistair Fanatic
Summary: When two strange kids are found outside the manor, everyone is more than willing to invite them into the family.  But when a murder suddenly occurs at the peaceful residence, our heroes find themselves faced with shocking twists that nobody saw coming.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! Kowalistair here! First of all, I'd like to mention that this is my first story in the Mysterious Benedict Society fanbase and I hope that you all enjoy. I'd also like to note that this won't be one of those boring OC stories where the limelight is taken away from the original characters ****from the books and it's all about the OCs. I'm not that type of author and you can expect a lot of The Mysterious Benedict Society in this fan fic.**

**Anyway, please enjoy!**

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><p><em>~Preface<em>~

"_Carter run!_" screamed a teenage girl, grabbing his hand tightly. She sprinted down the street in a blur of movement with him by her side.

"D calm down! You're going to fall asleep again!" the younger boy gasped, concerned for his partner's safety. His short blond hair ruffled around wildly as he tried to keep up with the older girl.

She looked nervously over her shoulder. "If we get caught that's the last thing that we're going to have to worry about! Come on!"

The two kids ran as fast as they could, with the harsh wind and freezing cold rain pounding against their faces as they tried to outmaneuver their pursuers. Carter shivered and hugged his jacket closer to him as the girl named Diana pulled him further along.

The distant sound of a train whistle tweeted loudly as it chugged slowly off into the distance.

"We can make it!" she panted, clutching the searing pain in her side. How long had they been running? An hour? Two? It was hard to tell with all this rain.

A flashlight's bright beam swept over to them and another girl's voice shouted. "There they are! Get back over here Diana! You know that you'll never be able to escape Dad!"

"_He's not our dad!_" Carter yelled at them.

They were getting closer! The train was only a few yards away! All they needed to do now was jump onto the open car and roll out of town!

"_Diana!_ _Carter!_"yelled another boy's voice, his suave tone ringing out over the roar of the train's engine as he ran aside the other girl. "What are you expecting to do without us? You have no home, no money, and nobody to support you! Face it, you and your brother are useless without us!"

They were there! All they had to do now was jump on the train in the next minute and they were home free. But the words that Jonathan said bothered Diana in the pit of her stomach. He was right. They had nowhere to go, and definitely couldn't survive on their own without funding.

She stopped and hung her head down low. "Alright Jonathan...I'll go. But I have a question first."

Carter stared at her in disbelief.

He smirked. "I'm glad that you came to your senses. Ask away."

"What's soaking wet and clueless?"

He paused in confusion. "Wha-?"

But before he could finish his sentence, she quickly withdrew a bottle of water from behind her back and threw out all the contents at them. Both cried out in shock and rubbed their eyes painfully.

"_Your face!_" and with her other hand she snatched Carter from his collar and pulled him onto the passing train car.

Jonathan and the girl named Selena looked up in disbelief to see the two young outlaws riding off on the train and waving to them in mockery as they bid them farewell.

Next stop, Stonetown.

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><p><strong>Before you shoot me with a Ten Man's pencil, please let me explain the lack of participation from the main characters in the preface. To be honest, I just wanted to introduce my OC characters in an exciting action scene to tease you reader and also show you the interaction between Diana and Carter. But you can be sure that Reynie guys are coming up next chapter.<strong>

**Promise.**

**Now to make the fan fic a little more unique, I'm going to give you all a riddle that will be a hint for the next chapter. If you don't like spoilers, then just avoid figuring it out. Good? Okay then...**

**-.- -. .. .- - .-. ..-. - -... . -.  
><strong>

**Confused? Good. Mwahahaha...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter guys! Thank you so much to Spark Writer who reviewed and supported my writing! As I promised this chapter is positively BRIMMING with Mysterious Benedict Society characters! Constance, Reyine, Kate, and Sticky are all there! And for those who are curious, the answer to the riddle in the last chapter was...wait, if I told you then I'd be ruining it.**

**Alright then**** onto reading!**

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><p>Chapter 2:<p>

Though miles away, two very unhappy children were dwelling in their misery and misfortune, all the way in Stonetown, one house in particular could not be a happier place.

And this house was none other than Benedict Manor. Even from the street, passersby could hear the conversations and laughter erupting from inside the cozy mansion and the clatter of dishes as they were being passed around. Buttered rolls, plates of steaming spaghetti, and ginormous slices of cherry pie were being greedily scarfed down, all thanks to Moocho Bravos and his amazing cooking abilities.

Constance, was of course, causing trouble by busying herself by seeing how long a chain link she could make with her spaghetti noodles by knotting them together.

Kate was busy shoveling her fourth piece of pie down her throat with some vanilla ice cream in a rather strange rapid fire pattern. Alternating between spoonfuls of scorching hot pie filling and freezing cold ice cream. She winced with every bite but just kept on trekking through the process.

Sticky was picking through his food and separating the individual components in alphabetical order and according to size ratio.

And Reynie just stared out of the window, frowning with a furrowed brow in unfocused concentration.

Meanwhile, the grownups suddenly noticed all of their children's rather nasty or disturbing behaviors and immediately went into a long string of scoldings all at once.

"Constance! Please stop playing with your food and just eat it young lady!" Number Two scolded, wrinkling her nose at the disgusting noodle link.

Constance turned. "But I want pie! Not spaghetti!" she pushed her plate away and promptly decided to break out into a poem. "Spaghetti is gross. They remind me of slimy worms. Pie is not slimy."

Number Two crossed her arms in displeasure.

Constance smiled smugly. "It's a haiku."

"Katherine Wetherall! Please slow down and chew in between your bites." her father Milligan scolded. "You're making me nervous!"

"Aww dad, it's just pie." Kate said playfully. "Chill out. It's not like a Ten Man got to it or anythi-"

Suddenly Milligan jumped out of his seat and instinctively withdrew his tranquilizer gun out from his belt. A feathered dart shot out and nearly hit Mr. Benedict straight in the forehead.

There was an awkward silence. Milligan coughed in embarrassment and shrank down into his seat.

"Sorry, old habit." he muttered.

Mr. Benedict laughed. "Oh it's quite alright Milligan! We're all still a bit uptight from that Ledroptha business. You of all people should be having the hardest time giving up old habits, seeing how you've done so much for us in the past."

Everyone at the table nodded in agreement, except for Reynie who was staring out of the window.

Milligan blushed slightly. "Oh, please. I've only done a couple simple tasks. The real heroes are the kids and you Mr. Benedict. You're the ones who first discovered the Whisperer and finally brought it to it's end."

Mr. Benedict chuckled. "No, no, no, I deserve no credit whatsoever. I was simply just lucky to be in the right places. Without you and-Reynie, you've been looking at that window for the past hour, whatever is the matter?"

Reynie turned around and frowned. "Sorry Mr. Benedict it's just...are there usually cats hanging out inside your hedges?"

"Cats? No, not that I recall. Why?"

He shrugged. "It's just...well, there's these two shadows in your hedges and I thought that-"

Constance gasped and raised her hand up, signaling for everyone to be quiet. Everyone stared up at her in wonderment. This was happening more and more often with her lately. Occasionally she would notice something that everybody didn't with her 'gift' and would alert them if something was wrong.

Beads of perspiration dripped down her tiny head as she concentrated. Her face was constricted with pain and anger as she desperately tried to focus on what she was seeing. Finally she opened her bright blue baby eyes and pointed at the door.

"Some people are outside!" she panted. Number Two ran over to her quickly and patted her forehead down with a wet rag.

Milligan stood up and withdrew his tranquilizer gun again. "Are they good or bad Constance?"

"I-I don't know." she shivered. "All I know is that they're alone. One of them is asleep."

Milligan frowned and stared wistfully at the door. "Alright. Everyone else stay back. If I start yelling take the secret entrance out of here and contact the authorities."

"S-Shouldn't we call the authorities now?" Sticky stammered, polishing his spectacles frantically. Even though he wore contacts now, he still carried his glasses as an old fidgeting habit relief.

Milligan shook his head. "They'll hear the sirens and run off. I don't want to scare them if they're good or bad guys. Be right back."

Kate stood up. "Uh uh, if you think that I'm just going to stand here and let you have a super huge fun adventure without me, then Rhonda here is a two ton powdered sugar doughnut."

Gingerly, Rhonda poked herself for reassurance.

Reynie stood up too. "I say that all of us should go. The more men-"

Kate cleared her throat loudly at him.

"-and woman that go, the more backup that there is. C'mon Sticky."

Sticky rose up from his seat nervously but smiled at Reynie with timid determination. Both boys exchanged quick glances and discreetly knew that they weren't all just going to protect Milligan. But the sheer curiosity and mystery of the two odd shadows instead, reminded them all of the old times and adventures that they used to have from their encounters with L.I.V.E and the Whisperer.

Just the adrenaline of running past Milligan and ignoring his desperate pleas and protests felt wonderful. Like an old memory buzzing to life.

When they reached the grounds, everybody stared wistfully at the hedges in silent curiosity.

Who would go and check it out first?

Reynie looked over at Kate for ideas, but soon found that she was already approaching the lush green shrubs. They all watched the brave girl as she carefully lifted out a large metal hammer from her trusty fire engine red bucket and held it up high in preparation for whatever danger lay ahead.

The bushes rustled. Kate readied the hammer.

Constance held Reynie's hand tighter, while Stucky polished his glasses furiously.

A boy and girl tumbled out of the bushes, both terribly bruised and scratched with dark bags under their eyes. The older girl was fast asleep, nestled in the comfort of her younger brother who looked up at Kate in horror and winced, ready for impact.

Kate brought the hammer down automatically.

"_KATE NO_!" Sticky cried, tackling her to the ground. The hammer slammed down right into his leg.

"_YOUCH_!"

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><p>"I'm so, so, so, sorry Sticky!" Kate apologized for about the thousandth time, bandaging the poor young intellect's leg, which was severely damaged.<p>

He winced slightly in pain but tried his best not to appear too hurt. He knew that Kate already felt extremely bad about her hammer and was doing everything that she could to make it up to him. "It's fine Kate. I just need a couple months to recover. Which will give me just enough time to catch up on some light reading that I've been doing."

"And by that you mean memorizing the entire encyclopedia right?" Constance snorted, sitting beside Sticky's bed and nibbling on some sticky salt water taffy.

Sticky smiled sheepishly. "Maybe. How are those two kids we found?"

Reynie smiled at him reassuringly. "They're fine now. Mr. Benedict is trying to ask the guy some questions, and Rhonda is trying to wake up the girl."

"I wonder who they are." Kate wondered as she flipped herself up into an upside down position on the mattress, and dangled herself overhead on Constance's bunk bed.

Reynie shrugged. "I couldn't hear much from Mr. Benedict's room when I was walking by in the hallway. I think that he soundproofed the walls or something."

Constance crossed her arms grumpily. "It's like he doesn't trust us or something."

All of the kids exchanged looks and there was a long awkward silence until they ended up bursting out into loud fits of laughter.

This euphoria lasted for quite awhile until Mr. Benedict walked in with the boy from the hedges next to him, looking much healthier and clean from his short stay. "Ah, Sticky how are you feeling lad?"

Sticky smiled weakly. "Just fine, Mr. Benedict. Thankfully this experience has given me the perfect opportunity to catch up on some recent marrow bone structure research papers that I've been looking into. Fascinating stuff really."

Mr. Benedict patted his head softly. "I'm sure that they are. Please fill me in on the details later. But first, allow me to introduce Mr. Carter...um, what did you say your last name was Carter? It seems to have slipped my memory."

"Cronlot" he answered, grinning ear to ear. He was much cleaner now from his bath and meal, looked about Reynie's age, but was fairly taller and skinnier than him. "But call me Carter." he looked up at Mr. Benedict and smiled gratefully. "Oh thank you so much for everything that you've done Mr. Benedict!

My sister and I really appreciate it!"

Kate gasped in surprise and promptly fell out of the bed directly onto her head, but sprang up enthusiastically anyway. "Did you just say that she's your sister? Oh my gosh! I have a girl my age that I can talk to!

"Ahem." Constance glared at her.

"Ahhh, no offense Connie Girl." Kate apologized.

Carter smiled. "So you guys are the Mysterious Benedict Society, huh? I've heard about all of your guy's adventures from the newspapers! You guys are heroes!"

Reynie blushed and shuffled his feet. "Aw, thanks Carter. But we're really just regular kids. Honestly."

Constance frowned. "So where are you from?"

"Umm...another town really far away from here." he said, carefully choosing his words. "Diana and I ran away from the orphanage where we use to live and caught a train to Stonetown."

Everyone stayed silent and looked down at the floor, except for Mr. Benedict who patted a white handkerchief at his eyes.

Carter shuffled nervously from foot to foot and took in the deep silence. "D and I promise to leave as soon as she wakes up. It was kind of a rough day for her."

"How long has she been out?" Reynie asked curiously.

"Reynie..." Mr. Benedict started warningly, but Carter cut him off.

"My sister has a condition called narcolepsy. She falls asleep every time she gets really scared or anxious." he explained.

Sticky bolted up right out of bed. "Your sister has narcolepsy? Mr. Benedict used to have narcolepsy! Maybe we could cure her too!"

But before he could answer, a female voice flew in from the hallway. "Carter?"

He turned around and grinned. "D! You're up! Catch some good Zs?"

She nodded and stumbled as she walked around. "Yes, quite a few actually." Diana looked up at the Mysterious Benedict Society and Mr. Benedict and gave a small smile. "Forgive me if my brother and I have given you any kind of inconveniences. We'll be leaving shortly as soon as we get all of our-"

"You'll be doing nothing of the sort." came a curt response from behind them. Rhonda and Number Two waltzed in and crossed their arms.

Mr. Benedict nodded in agreement. "I have to strongly agree with Number Two and Rhonda. We don't just send orphaned children out into the world by themselves. Why don't you and Carter come and live with us?"

Diana grabbed Carter by the shoulders and smiled at them. "While I really appreciate the offer, there is just no way that we could possibly accept. We've given you all enough trouble as it is."

Constance rolled her eyes. "If you think that you being here is trouble, than you've obviously never met me before."

Reynie walked up to her and stared into her anxious bright green eyes. "Look, you weren't here, but when Carter said that you guys are orphans, well...I just remembered the first time that I met Mr. Benedict. Because before all of the amazing and life threatening adventures that I had with Sticky, Constance, and

Kate...well, we were all orphans."

"Not me." Sticky raised up his hand. "I just ran away from home."

Everyone laughed.

"And they said that they could cure your narcolepsy D." Carter added.

At that Diana took a step back. "Oh no, I'm afraid that my condition is much too complicated to be cured. There are different variables and-"

"Look, at least stay with us." Kate said flipping into the air and landing right back on her feet. "My friend Moocho is making a mean apple pie for dessert. It'll be great!"

Diana looked at Carter who stared at her pleadingly. She sighed finally and smiled at Kate. "I would be honored. But I must ask you not to tamper with my narcolepsy. Please."

Mr. Benedict nodded. "Of course. But may I ask you to sit next to Constance tonight? Child grows lonely sometimes."

"Of course Mr. Benedict. But first, could I have my glasses back? I'm completely blind without them."

"Oh dear! I'm sorry Diana, I was going to give them back to you as soon as you woke up." Number Two apologized. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of thickly framed silver colored glasses. "I'm going to have to go to the flea market tomorrow to get you and your brother some decent clothing. You poor things..."

Diana took it from her hands gratefully and placed them onto her face. "Thank you Pencilla. Let's go downstairs and get our backpacks Carter."

He nodded eagerly and walked out with her.

Number Two frowned. "Pencilla? But I never told her my name..."

Mr. Benedict stared wistfully at the hallway's winding corridors. "Hmmm...I suspect that those children are more than meets the eye. And there's something about Diana that strikes me curious."

Reynie cleared his throat. "Um, sir? Why don't we just let Constance read her thoughts? It might come in handy."

Mr. Benedict nodded and tapped his nose. "Correct as always Reynie. Would you mind Constance?"

The normally grouchy child beamed. "Reading someone's innermost secrets with permission? I'm in!"

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><p>"So, what brought you to Benedict Manor?" Milligan asked Diana, who was happily enjoying her plate of meatloaf.<p>

She wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Mostly by accident. The past week of running away from the orphanage had made me extremely anxious. So when an adult had asked us where our parents were at the bus stop...well, they struck a raw nerve and I fell asleep. I guess Carter had dragged me over to the closest residence that he could find."

"We were lucky that it was you guys." Carter said, shoving down another mouthful of mash potatoes in his mouth and chewing loudly.

Number Two winced. Kate beamed.

Constance glared at Diana, staring with full intensity. Her face began to grow beet red.

Diana looked over at Constance nervously. "Is she alright? Did I do something wrong Mr. Benedict?"

He waved her off. "No, no, no. Not at all. Constance is merely just trying to get to know you. Pie?" he offered her the porcelain dish.

"Yes please. Thank you."

Suddenly, Constance's face turned a slight shade of green. Her normally rosy pink cheeks paled and she started to shiver violently. "I-I need to go." she said weakly, running for the bathroom. She covered her mouth and fled.

Reynie and the others stared at each in concern. What had happened? Constance never acted like that unless she tried to force someone to do something against their own will. But Diana hadn't done anything strange or out of the question. So what was the matter?

As if sharing the same thought all at once, they all stood up from their seats and announced that they would go check on Constance.

They all ran off and found her crouched over the toilet, vomiting like crazy.

"Constance what's that matter?" Reynie asked, getting down on his knees so that he'd be eye level with her.

She looked up, tears sparkling her big blue pupils. "I-I can't get through. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. It's like trying to get through a thick fog in the dark."

Sticky stared at Reynie. "Could she be on to Constance's gift? Carter did say that they knew about us from the newspapers."

He shook his head. "No. The government made sure that her secret wouldn't be spilled just in case some other psycho maniacs tried to kidnap her. I think that there's something else that they're not telling us."

Kate frowned. "Like what?"

Reynie rubbed his chin. "I'm not sure..."

Just then Mr. Benedict's voice came from downstairs. "Mr. Pressius you made it! Please come in. Do you like pie?"

The Mysterious Benedict Society exchanged equally shocked expressions.

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><p><strong>Alrighty all done! Now I can tell you the answer to the riddle from the last chapter! The answer was "A Broken Gift"<strong>

**Make sense now? Okay! See you guys later in chapter 3! And here's the riddle hint for the next one:**

**4 fish sticks**

**Ice**

**9 notebooks**

**Lettuce**

**Apples**

**6 loaves of bread**

**Toilet paper**

**Dragon fruit**

**13 stalks of celery**

**Ice cream**

**Nectarines**

**4 packs of crackers**

**Pretty please review guys and have some pie! Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delay folks! And thanks for all of your reviews, it overjoys me to know that somebody out there is reading my work and liking it. Here goes!**

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><p>Chapter 3:<p>

"So, who do you think that guy is?" Carter whispered over to Diana, barely moving his lips as he leaned over to grab another helping of mash potatoes.

Diana stared over at the male visitor and scratched her chin. "Judging by his attire I suspect a wealthy businessman of some sort. But the lines on everyone's faces also suggests that he's not a friend. Mr. Benedict seems to be taking it well though."

Carter frowned. "D...can't we just stay a little while longer? I could help out around the house with chores and-"

"Carter you know what I'm going to say. It's too risky." Diana cast a nervous glance over her shoulder at Mr. Benedict who was trying to have a pleasant conversation with Mr. Pressius. "Even though he's so kind..."

Carter gave her an irritated look. "D, why can't you just understand that we actually have a family here? Everyone is so much fun, the food is great, Kate even offered to show me her pet falcon, and..." he paused and noticed the stricken expression on his sister's face. She gazed at Mr. Benedict wistfully and fidgeted nervously with her glasses.

And that's when a realization hit him. "You're not trying to protect Mr. Benedict are you?" he asked slowly.

Diana gulped down a lump in her throat. "It's so wrong Carter...but they resemble each other so much don't they? It's almost like they're the same person."

Carter was taken aback. Was his sister really suggesting that she liked Mr. Benedict? It was such an awkward statement that he found himself at a loss for words.

Mr. Pressius seemed to have ended his conversation with Mr. Benedict and was striding toward the dinner table with a permanent scowl on his face. When he spotted Carter and Diana sitting quietly he sneered. "Starting to run a poor house Benedict? It figures. It's just like you."

Mr. Benedict had his hands closed together and gave Mr. Pressius a calm smile. "I have to admit that I do have quite a soft spot for children. But you know the old quote by Linda Berman, 'The highest form of wisdom is kindness'."

Mr. Pressius snorted and sat himself down next to Carter who shuffled uncomfortably. Something about Mr. Pressius made him uneasy. He assumed that it might be a second instinct or just good character analysis, because Mr. Benedict gave him a big sympathetic smile.

"Carter my boy, could you please grab us the tray of leftover pie from the outside refrigerator after your done playing with Her Majesty?" he asked with his deep emerald eyes twinkling. "I believe that Moocho said that it's fine to eat."

Carter sprang out of his seat and grinned. "Sure thing Mr. Benedict! I'll be back as soon as I can!"

Mr. Benedict offered Diana to stay for a midnight snack, but she quickly excused herself from the table and ran off upstairs. Mr. Pressius watched her leave and smirked. "Alright Benedict, here's my proposition, you give me the wind turbines and in exchange I'll allow you to continually have guardianship over my daughter."

Mr. Benedict laughed out loud. "Oh Mr. Pressius! Thank you for that! I have not heard such an excellent joke since...well, since your last visit here."

Mr. Pressius crossed his arms and slammed his fist down on the table. "I'm bring serious Benedict!" he snarled. "If you don't give my company those turbines for our oil welling business I will personally take Miss Contraire home with me!"

"Haven't we been over this before? I now own Constance legally. Her original parents died in a train incident when she was just a newborn." Mr. Benedict explained, trying not to sound agitated with the very tiresome businessman on the other end of the table.

Mr. Pressius paused. "I suppose..." he broke out into a nasty smile. "But you don't own those filthy brats do you? Carter was it? And that other girl. Their names weren't in any adoption papers that I've seen."

Nicholas Benedict's expression hardened. "Where are you going with this?"

Mr. Pressius folded his hands on the table and leaned in closer to Mr. Benedict who was frowning. "You don't legally own those kids. And in that case I could charge you with second degree kidnapping."

Mr. Benedict felt himself growing more and more nervous with every hard beat from his heart. Mr. Pressius could see it in his eyes too.

Mr. Benedict, who was so normally composed and kind, growled angrily at the sly blackmailer. His expression resembled his twin brother's almost exactly. "If you lay a hand on them-"

"Oh no, no, no." he shook his head and waved his arms around innocently. "I have no intention of snitching on you...yet. I'm going to stay in your lovely guest room for the night and celebrate with a couple drinks. Would you care to join me? No? Pity." and with a slight mocking bow he strolled off upstairs.

Though the dining room remained quiet, the soft breathing of Mr. Benedict sighs of exasperation could be heard by a single unwanted listener who stood petrified after hearing the entire conversation.

Carter stood in the middle of the walkway, frozen with terror as his shaky hands held onto the tray of pie weakly. He dropped it onto the floor and ran off into the deep, dark shadows. Where he could disguise his hot tears.

Rhonda was going into the kitchen to fetch a quick midnight snack when she saw Carter crying. "Carter, what's wrong?" she asked, getting down on one knee so that she'd be eye level.

He shook his head defiantly like a five year old child and cried out to her. "Mr. Pressius is taking D and I back to the orphanage! I don't want to go back!" he blocked his facial expressions from Rhonda with his arm and ran off.

Rhonda followed after him. "Carter wait!" she cried, panting to catch up with the heartbroken kid.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she realized that the door to Mr. Pressius' room was wide open and a familiar boy's voice could be heard from inside.

"_You can't take me and D away!_" he yelled. "_We'll run away before you can catch us! We've done it once and we'll do it again!_"

Mr. Pressius was furious at the fact that Carter was in his room and yelled at him in outrage. "Get out of my room you little brat! And if you think that you can get away from me in the same house then I might just adopt you two miserable street urchins just to get some payback!"

A crashing sound came from inside, and Rhonda watched in horror as Carter's shadow flew across the room and hit the back of a thick wooden dresser.

Rhonda gasped and realized that Mr. Pressius had just punched poor Carter right in the ribs. She immediately ran in and glared at the snobby businessman who was extremely red faced from his fight with Carter. Carter meanwhile, laid on the ground and clutched his head in pain while groaning.

Rhonda whirled on Mr. Pressius and stomped her foot on the ground. "How dare you assault an innocent boy! I could send you to court for this!"

Mr. Pressius rolled his eyes. "Oh please Ms. Kazembe, I have lawyers galore that could easily leave whatever pint size lawsuit you could ever afford in the dust."

She blanched and did the only thing that felt natural at the moment...she stepped on his foot.

He cried out furiously in rage and glared as she carried Carter out of the room. "I'd kill that man if I had to..." she muttered darkly.

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><p><strong>Okay, since this chapter took so long to get to you guys I'll just give you guys the hint. No riddles needed this time.<strong>

**"Keep an eye on Kate"  
><strong>

**Want to be a character in the sequel? Put your suspicions and theories in a review and send it up! Those who get it right will be mentioned as characters in my next Mysterious Benedict Society fic.  
><strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I just want to take some time to thank all of you for your reviews and constructive criticism.**

**...thank you. Ha ha ha!  
><strong>

**life1428: Well thank you, I'm glad that my little riddles are appreciated. As for your theory...well, this chapter will prove whether or not it's correct. I wish you the best of luck!  
><strong>

**K: Awww! Thank you! The thing that I strive for most in this fan fic is to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and to keep them entertained.  
><strong>

**The-b00k-was-better: Well thank you, and I really truly appreciate the criticism. Unfortunately, I don't have time or the patience for betas. (People on Fan Fiction tend to leave me on hiatus, so I've learned to work strictly alone. Otherwise my works don't get published for months, because I'm waiting for the other person.) But feel free to tell me how my characters are being OOC, so that I can correct that. Once again, I really don't mind it when people criticize my work. Thanks! :D**

**Anyway, here's the new chapter! You'll find that things are starting to really get serious and dramatic. (Don't worry, comedy will not be in short supply.) And without a further ado, here's the new chapter!**

* * *

><p>Milligan slammed his fork down on his plate of pancakes as if it were Mr. Pressius' head and chewed on his piece violently. "It's outrageous! Threatening you with blackmail when all you were doing was trying to help these kids out!"<p>

Number Two nodded curtly. "I have to agree with Milligan for once, it's simply dreadful! And to think that we offered him some of our good pie!"

Mr. Benedict yawned. He had slept terrible last night and was in no shape to agree of even talk to his fellow companions at the breakfast table.

Reynie just stared down at his food. So did the rest of the Mysterious Benedict Society, except for Kate who Milligan said was feeding Madge outside. It made him sick to his stomach thinking that Carter and Diana would be sent back to their orphanage where they probably didn't have any friends. And they were even starting to grow on him. Carter with his upbeat attitude, and Diana with her maturity and intelligence.

But what could they do against Mr. Pressius?

Diana and Carter were both absent from the dining table, so was Kate and Rhonda. Everyone guessed that they were all probably sleeping in. It would be very hard trying to explain the situation to them.

"What do we do?" Sticky whispered to Reynie, his leg was still up in a cast, but his parents had allowed him to come down to breakfast for a quick meeting about Diana and Carter.

Reynie held his head and frowned. "I-I just don't know. It's so frustrating! Nothing seems to make any sense anymore!"

Constance glared down at her pancakes. "I hate Mr. Pressius. Remember when he accidentally spilled all of those diamonds with identical fakes when we were staying with Cannonball?"

Reynie and Sticky groaned at the memory.

Just then, Carter and Diana came into the room wearing a new pair of clothes that Number Two had bought from her brief visit to the flea market. Diana's dark chocolate brown hair flowed past her shoulders on the silk ribbon straps of her shimmering turquoise blue blouse and teal skirt. Her dark green pupils sparkled slightly when she spotted Mr. Benedict smiling at her from across the table.

Carter was wearing a white collared shirt with a navy blue tie and grey dress pants. His dirty blonde hair was neatly washed and combed thanks to Rhonda, and he scanned the room with bored dark blue eyes and his hands clasped behind his back. He frowned at everyone and regarded them all by nodding his head slightly.

They seated themselves and began digging into their food. Everyone else at the table remained completely quiet and silently continued to eat their meals. Diana looked around at everybody's anxious faces and adjusted her glasses, which Reynie guessed she did as a habit to keep her mind off of an uncomfortable situation.

"So, what's the bad news?" she asked, taking a bite of her blueberry pancake.

Sticky stared at her in bewilderment. "How could you tell?"

She shrugged and smiled at him. "Sensitive empathetic nerves I suppose. I've always been skilled in reading people's emotions."

Mr. Benedict coughed into his hand. "Well then I suppose that we shouldn't delay any longer. You see-"

Suddenly a bloodcurdling shriek came from the hallway. Everyone turned to see Rhonda and Kate burst into the room, Kate's hands covered with a strange white powder and Rhonda's face completely pale.

Milligan stood and held Rhonda with his strong, firm hands to comfort her. "Rhonda, what's the matter? Tell me."

She sobbed and bit her lip, trying to get the words out of her now, very shaky vocal chords. "Mr. Pressius is-is-is..."

"Dead." Kate finished, hugging herself with her coated hands.

Everyone gasped.

The funeral was held a week after the incident. Apparently, Mr. Pressius didn't have any close friends or loved ones (big surprise) so nobody but Mr. Benedict and the children attended. Not too strangely, Rhonda said that she refused to go to the ceremony and insisted on staying home.

Mr. Benedict stared at Mr. Pressius' stone grave and shook his head as he placed a bouquet of daffodils beside it on the freshly wet grass. "His life could have been so much better if only he had made better decisions."

Kate, Sticky, and Reynie all nodded in a solemn agreement.

Constance spat on the grave's surface.

Carter frowned and rubbed his chin. "Isn't it weird that they found dawnsroot in his system? It's not a very common plant and can only be found in some exotic places."

Reynie frowned. "Are you suggesting that he was poisoned by someone?"

Carter gazed quietly up at the partly hidden sun in the dreary grey sky as a chilly breeze blew past them. "Maybe..." he paused for while in contemplation, and finally after a couple of minutes continued. "I think that it's far past time for the Mysterious Benedict Society to regroup. I think that there's foul play in Benedict Manor. Maybe Diana and I could help all of you and-AGH!" all of a sudden Carter clutched his head in pain and fell to his knees. Reynie reached down to help him out but Carter held up his hand behind his back and shook his head. "I'm fine Reynie." he said weakly.

Everyone, including Reynie stared at Carter in concern. But as he did, something strange happened. For a flicker of a second, Reynie could of sworn that he had saw Carter's pupils turn deep red and then mellow down into it's original blue color.

Carter stood up and brushed himself off. "Forgive me for that Reynard. I just had a brief migraine for a second. It happens sometimes."

"What happened to your eyes?"

Carter blanched for a second, but quickly regained his composure and turned away. "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Perhaps it was a trick of the light." and with that he just stalked off without another word.

Reynie pondered for awhile as he stood there, lost in thought. Something about Carter wasn't right. And that color in his eyes...Reynie was sure that he had seen it somewhere else.

But where?

"I don't like it." Reynie said, crossing his arms as he leaned up against Constance's bed. He had called up an emergency meeting with all of the members of the Mysterious Benedict Society to discuss Mr. Pressius's supposed murder.

Sticky frowned and sat up from the bed. "What do you mean?"

Reynie looked at him. "Has it just been me, or has Carter and Diana been acting weirdly lately?"

"Maybe Diana is just stressed again." Sticky reasoned. "She can get that way a lot. I'm actually surprised that she didn't fall asleep when Rhonda and Kate said that Mr. Pressius was dead."

"Speaking of Kate, where is she?" Constance asked. She was sitting cross legged on the rug with a handful of shiny wrapped candies spread across the floor.

"She's in the bathroom. I think that she's still trying to wash off that weird dust off of her hands from last week." he said.

Constance snorted. "That, or she's putting on more of that weird spritzy stuff. I got mad at her because it was making my room smell like a Ten Man and when I asked what in the name of limericks it was, she just said that it was perfume."

Reynie just nodded at Constance's remark and suddenly wheeled around toward Sticky. "Wait a second, Carter said that Mr. Pressius was poisoned with dawnsroot. Doesn't Mr. Benedict has powered dawnsroot in his lab?"

Sticky and Constance both gasped. "You're right!" said Sticky, but then he frowned at Reynie's serious expression. "But you don't think that Kate..."

Reynie sighed heavily. "At this point, I don't know who we can trust. But we'll need more evidence before we can make an accusation."

Just then, Kate ran in the room, her cheeks bright red and tears running down from her bright blue eyes.

Reynie stood up. "Kate, what's wrong?" he asked in concern.

"It's Madge! I went outside to go and see if she was hungry and found her dead on the porch!" she cried.

Sticky, Constance and Reynie stared at each other in bewilderment.

"This is getting serious." Reynie muttered.

"Reynie!" Constance yelled, gesturing for him to come over to the window.

He ran over and looked down at the busy street to see Carter and Diana running at top speed out of the mansion. Both had backpacks slung over their shoulders and jackets slightly covering their facial features.

Reynie recognized them and gasped in panic. Sticky looked over his shoulder in curiosity at his friend's horrified face and paled at the sight of a bus pulling up toward the street.

"They're making a run for it!" he yelled.

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><p><strong>Well, that's it for now. I hope that you guys enjoyed it. Aaaaaaand, here's next chapter's riddling hint!<strong>

**4 9 1 14 1 1 14 4 3 1 18 19 5 18 1 18 14 ' 19 15 18 16 8 1 14 19  
><strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**New chapter's up! Pretty fast, huh? Thank you all again for the reviews! Whenever I see a new review on my story, I think about it all day and smile to myself. You are all amazing people, every single one of you.**

**Soooo...life1428 deducted the riddle correctly. It is indeed, "Diana and Carter aren't orphans". Congratulations!**

**Now then, onto the next chapter!  
><strong>

**We last saw Diana and Carter running away from Benedict Manor...  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 5:<p>

Diana stared back at Benedict Manor with deep sadness and longing. She wished that her situation was different. If only they weren't on the run, if only she was back to being an orphan, if only Mr. Benedict could accept her for being a misfit...

Carter ran a hand through his hair vainly and smirked at her.

She knew that her brother wasn't acting like his usual self. And she knew that there was an obvious explanation for it, but she refused for it to be true with all of her might.

_He's probably just traumatized by Mr. Pressius's death. _She thought to herself. _Death...it's such a final word. Like a stalking predator creeping up on it unsuspecting prey._

"Diana! Carter! Wait!" called four youths' voices.

Diana tensed and turned around very slowly to face her captors.

_Please don't be who it is! Please don't be who I think it is! _She repeated desperately over and over again in her head. But it was of no use, Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and a carried Constance sprinted toward them with determined expressions. Kate's legs pumped the hardest of the entire group as she flew past the boys at top speed.

The bus pulled to a stop and Carter stepped inside. Diana pushed him to go faster. He turned around to complain but then spotted the Mysterious Benedict Society that was pursuing them.

"Oh no, not them!" he cried diving into the bus as quick as he could.

Diana followed in after him. "Please drive sir!" she pleaded to the driver. "Those kids are trying to hurt my brother and I!"

Kate lowered herself and sprang up onto the bus's side like an Olympic athlete and clutched one of the windows as an handhold. "No we're not! They're just trying to run away from home!" she yelled through the glass.

The bus driver looked deeply confused.

Carter yelled. "Don't believe her! Do you see how big she is? _I'm afraid for my darn life man!_"

Kate banged on the window loudly. "Diana! Carter! Where are you going?" she screamed.

Diana felt her heart start to pound louder. The sensation was very familiar to her. The feeling of hot fear rising up in your stomach and submerging you completely until you couldn't see anything but darkness. A sharp pain stabbed her in the head and she felt herself fall asleep.

She slumped to the ground and heard the bus screech to a halt.

Carter gasped and fell to Diana's side as Kate walked in.

He tried to push her away, but Kate shoved past him and lifted Diana into her strong arms. Carter stood up to try and feebly fight her, but Reynie grabbed him from behind and walked him out of the bus.

The bus driver, lost for words of sympathy, dumbly offered Carter some of his leftover coffee.

Carter stared at the man, took a small sip, and graciously returned it, crying all the while as he exited.

Mr. Benedict paced the floor of his office, which wasn't much to say given the fact that the floor was covered with books and papers of various shapes, sizes, and colors.

Diana and Carter sat in their seats with their hands folded together, looking rather dejected.

Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance all leaned up against a wall nearby and listened as Mr. Benedict spoke to the two attempted runaways.

"All I want to know is why." said Mr. Benedict with a frown. "Why are you children so afraid of staying here Diana?"

She stared down at the floor guiltily and wept. Kate had woken her up on the bus, and Reynie, (through much persuasion and reassurances) had finally convinced the bus driver that they weren't bullies and just wanted Diana and Carter to come back home with them. "I-I can't." Diana whimpered. "You're like a father to me Mr. Benedict. And I love you with all of my heart! But...if I stayed here, or told you the truth...you'd never be able to accept me or Carter into this household ever again."

Reynie crossed his arms and spoke up, "Does it have anything to do with your narcolepsy Diana?"

She whirled around in her seat and calmed herself down. "Not at all. Why?" she asked cooly.

"Because Constance tried to read your thoughts during dinner last week and couldn't seem to get through." he said, his tone coming out a little more crossly than he would have liked.

Her face started to turn red. "Y-You did what?" she spluttered. She shot a glare at Mr. Benedict who fixed his glasses nervously and didn't dare keep eye contact. "You lied to me! I said not to mess with my thoughts!"

"Actually, you said not to mess with your narcolepsy." Sticky corrected. "So no promises were technically broken."

Diana stomped her foot down on the ground in pure rage. "It's just like Mr. Curtain said! You're nothing but trouble and a false friend Mr. Benedict! _I HATE YOU!_" she gasped at her last sentence and covered her mouth in horror with shaking hands.

Carter stared at her in shock. "Diana...you didn't just...oh no..."

Even Mr. Benedict seemed to be utterly speechless. His expression was pasted with pure horror and shock that he couldn't seem to make his lips move.

Sticky polished his glasses, Kate fell from her upside down crossed legs exercise, and Reynie's jaw dropped.

Constance was the only one that seemed to be able to say what everybody else was thinking. "You're working for Mr. Curtain!" she accused harshly.

Diana and Carter exchanged defeated glances at each other and lowered both of their heads in shame.

Their secret was exposed.

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><p>WHOA! A big secret has now been revealed! This is one of the major discoveries in the story to be found! Now that this is out of the way, post your reaction in the review to how you reacted to Diana and Carter's big secret and I'll be seeing you later.<p>

Koto thop preates (Hint: Look)


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